Barry Ramsay appears in the Rotorua District Court for a judge-alone trial facing allegations of sexual offending against children. Photo / Kelly Makiha
Warning: This story contains details of alleged sexual offending against children and may be upsetting.
A man accused of sexual offending against children “lunged” for his laptop and tried to “destroy” it when police arrived, his trial has heard.
Barry Ramsay, 67, of Coromandel, has pleaded not guilty to 24 charges, 17 of which allege offending against two children aged under 10.
His judge-alone trial before Judge Joanne Wickliffe started in the Rotorua District Court on Monday.
Ramsay is accused of several sexual offences against the children, including the use of sex toys and oral sex. Some charges were representative, meaning it is alleged the offences happened more than once.
Ramsay is also accused of showing child exploitation material to both children.
It is Ramsay’s defence that several alleged incidents “did not happen” and in others there was “context”, such as the children “instigating” conversations with him.
Ramsay faces five charges of sexual violation by unlawful connection, eight of indecent act on a child, one of knowingly making an objectionable publication, two of knowingly exhibiting an objectionable publication to a person under 18, and six charges of knowingly possessing an objectionable publication.
He is also charged with obstructing police and failing to carry out obligations in relation to a computer search.
The Rotorua Daily Post has omitted some details of the case to prevent identification of people whose identities are suppressed, including the children.
In her opening address, Crown prosecutor Anna McConachy said the alleged offending against the children, a boy and a girl, occurred in the Bay of Plenty over three years.
McConachy said the girl initially “made various disclosures” about Ramsey to her mother, who distanced the family from him.
In 2023, the girl “made further disclosures” to her grandmother about Ramsay.
The boy then disclosed alleged sexual abuse by Ramsay.
McConachy said one of the girl’s allegations included Ramsay getting her to wear “Elsa underwear” - a movie character from Frozen - and photographing her.
The boy’s allegations included Ramsay trying to make him have sex with a dog, she said.
McConachy said the police searched Ramsay’s Coromandel address in 2023.
When Ramsay saw the police, “he tried to force a shutdown of the laptop” he was using, she said.
“After he was informed he was under arrest, he lunged for the laptop and attempted to destroy it.”
McConachy said Ramsay refused to provide access codes to his devices.
She said “numerous” devices and sex toys were uplifted during the search. Testing found the girl’s DNA on the “Elsa underwear” found at his house.
McConachy said 1346 still images containing objectionable material were found on one laptop.
Of those, 1305 ranged from category one (child nudity or erotic posing) to category four (depicting penetrative sexual activity between children and adults).
Forty-one images were category five, depicting sadism or bestiality.
She said the Digital Forensics Unit had not yet accessed “a number of” devices. This was “ongoing”.
Ramsay’s lawyer, John Wayne Howell, said his client’s position was that the offending alleged in seven of the 17 charges against the children “did not happen”.
This included the allegation relating to the dog.
On the objectionable publication charges, Howell said Ramsay’s position was because the videos came from YouTube, “it’s not possession nor, I guess, objectionable”.
He said Ramsay also denied one charge relating to a sex toy and one representative charge relating to unlawfully touching the girl.
On another charge relating to a sex toy, Howell said it “didn’t happen in the way” the girl said and there was a question about whether the circumstances were indecent.
For “context”, Howell said “the children were coming to [Ramsay] and asking about matters which could be deemed sexual but they were instigating those conversations”.
On two charges relating to oral sex, Howell said this happened but only once - disputing the representative nature of the charge.
Howell said Ramsay did not photograph the girl wearing the Elsa underwear, “but he has taken photographs of her for cataloguing developmental reasons”.
Howell said Ramsay accepted one charge relating to a sex toy, however, there was a question about “whether it’s indecent” in context.
On two further charges relating to sex toys, Howell said this was “instigated” by the boy, not Ramsay.
Howell said Ramsay “did not obstruct police” and he did not see his actions “as a refusal” to give his pin number.
On the five charges relating to possession of objectionable publication, Howell said: “At this stage, it’s putting the prosecution to proof, but we may very well get to an agreed position”.
The trial is expected to last five days.
Where to get help:
If it’s an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you’ve ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:
Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it’s not your fault.
Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.